With OSX Lion 10.7 Apple has introduced resume:
- Restore the state of the computer when shut down.
- Reopen the used windows of applications.
While both are quite useful, the option to "reopen windows when loggin back in" causes the login items to be reloaded with a significant delay.
Programs get restarted immediately. I can use them with their full functionally within seconds. But the login items take up to another half minute to start. I should probably mention that the boot process takes only sixteen seconds (power button → desktop).
On a 'clean' start the login items will load right after the desktop appears.
Question
Why does it take so long to load menu-extras with "reopen when logging back in" enabled?
[Update: march 2013] This behavior is still persistent as of Mountain Lion 10.8.3.
Best Answer
It appears to me that the login items get started after all the applications from the last session have started up. For example, an older version of Adium used to hang (due to no internet connection being available) for a few seconds after starting up, and as soon as Adium was responsive, the login items got started.